Pub boss dies in a river after row with Coronation Street star Bruce Jones

Pub boss dies in a river after row with Coronation Street star Bruce Jones

ABUSE: Justin Mathis, 29, shouted at the star who had stepped in when the manager took a swing at an elderly customer [NEWSTEAM]

Drunk Justin Mathis, 29, hurled abuse at the star who had stepped in when the manager took a swing at an elderly customer.

Mr Mathis called peacemaker Bruce a “knobhead”, “p***k” and a “pillock”, an inquest heard.

“Mr Mathis stormed out of the George And Dragon in Conwy, Clwyd, and was reported missing when he failed to return to his own pub, the nearby Bridge Inn, next day”

The actor, 61, who lost his role as Les Battersby in 2007 over his own drinking, did not respond to the insults.

Mr Mathis stormed out of the George And Dragon in Conwy, Clwyd, and was reported missing when he failed to return to his own pub, the nearby Bridge Inn, next day.

His body was never found but one of his boots was discovered on the opposite side of the Conwy estuary days later in February 2011.

Mr Mathis had turned on Bruce, who appeared in Channel 5’s Celebrity Big Brother last year, after confronting the rival landlord of the George And Dragon about holding quiz nights on the same night as his pub.

Recording an open verdict at an inquest in Ruthin, coroner John Gittins said he was satisfied that Mathis had not tried to kill himself.